As part of its annual conference next week in Charleston, SC, the National Genealogical Society will offer a one-day Genealogy 101 session on Saturday, May 14, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration costs $50. Online registration is closed, but you can register at the door. Space is limited, so get there early.

A new organization has formed with the goal to provide in-depth genealogical education in the Mid-Atlantic region and nationally. The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) is planning a weeklong genealogy seminar for Monday, July 23 through Friday, July 27, 2012, in Pittsburgh. Learn more on GRIP’s website.

If you’ll be in the Washington, DC, are next week, you can learn how to research the National Archives’ records of Union and Confederate Army units and Navy ships at one of two free workshops: May 10, 11 a.m. at the Washington, DC, Research Center; or Thursday, May 12, 11 a.m. at the College Park, MD, research center. Learn more on the National Archives’ events page.

FamilySearch has added more than 2 million digital images to its record collections come from Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Switzerland, U.S., and Wales. More than 1.7 million of those images were added to the Brazil Civil Registration collection, and 346,000 church records were added for Honduras. The record images aren’t yet indexed, so you’ll need to navigate to the collection of interest on FamilySearch and browse the images. You can see the list of updated collections and link to each one here.

Happy Mother's Day to the moms out there and those on my family tree, including my great-grandma (here in the early 30s, holding one of her little ones) and my grandma (the little girl with her hands folded in front of her).

One of your biggest brick walls, you tell us, is finding the women in your family tree. That’s because historical records tend to name men more often, and women generally changed their names when they married (though those from some cultures, such as Italians, usually used their maiden names on official records).

This Mother’s Day, we want to help you learn more about your female ancestors’ lives. These free articles on FamilyTreeMagazine.com give tips and resources to aid your search:

Remember: Order anything from ShopFamilyTree.com and get FREE our "Memories of Mom" digital download from the forthcoming book My Life & Times by Sunny Jane Morton (available October 2011). This offer ends Monday, May 9.Female ancestors

As a publication that celebrates family photographs, we have a few goings-on for National Photo Month in May:

This month’s Ultimate Photo Preservation Collection sold out in record time, so we’re introducing another collection: the Digitize Your Family Photos Value Pack. Only during National Photo Month, you’ll save 69 percent on these tools to help you build a digital archive of your family's cherished memories:

Organize Your Family Photos independent study course download

The new Photo Rescue ebook

Photo Sharing 101 on-demand webinar

Learn more at ShopFamilyTree.com. (Bonus: Order anything at ShopFamilyTree.com now through Monday, May 9, and get the "Memories of Mom" digital download from the forthcoming book My Life & Times by Sunny Jane Morton.)

After the death of Gordon Felton, originally Gunter Fajgenbaum, his son, graphic designer Nicholas Felton, used the hundreds of artifacts his father left to create a visual synopsis of his life.

The 12-page book features infographics showing information about Gordon’s family, each decade of his life, the places he lived and traveled, his collections of music and postcards, and more.

Here are a few of the pages (click each page for a bigger view):

The first page (above) uses pie charts to show the number and types of items Gordon saved from each year of his life.

Page three summarizes his youth in England, with a photo and stats from his school reports (best and worst subject, most frequent adjectives teachers used to describe him, etc.).

The center pages show the places Gordon traveled, with at-a-glance information such as the highest altitude visited and number of locations in each hemisphere.

I admire the mad graphic design skills that went into this book. But beyond the gorgeous looks, I love how Nicholas studied his father’s ephemera and compiled facts (such as movies he saw and the type of music he listened to) that kind of summarize the family archive and give insight into what kind of person Gordon was.

Volunteers will build an index to the museum’s archives, which hold information on more than 17 million people targeted by the Nazis, including Jews, Poles, Roma, Ukrainians, political prisoners and others.

Ancestry.com will donate the indexing software and project management, and will host the completed indexes, which will be free to search. Holocaust survivors and their families can contact the museum to obtain copies of original documents at no cost.

Since launching the project in beta in February, Ancestry.com contributors have already indexed over 30,000 of the museum’s archival documents, which will soon be searchable free on Ancestry.com.

People from anywhere in the world can help index the remaining records by visiting www.WorldMemoryProject.org and registering to become a contributor.

You have to do other things when he is sleeping or have him in one of those swings that you can put him in. They grow fast and you will miss a lot if you don't keep him with you as much as you can.
—Irma

I fit research in in tiny little increments. My children are ages 3 and 5, and I'm home with them full-time. It's hard. If I get to the library, it's on a Saturday (after intense negotiations with my husband as to who will cover the kids when). My online research takes place before 6 a.m. (when the first one gets up) or during naptime.

Mostly, I try to remind myself that this is the period in life where you're supposed to focus on the family tree in your own house, not the one in your file cabinet. You will be amazed how quickly they grow up, and those dead people aren't going anywhere. They'll still be there in a few years when he just wants you to leave him alone so he can play video games. —Kerry Scott (who blogs at Clue Wagon)

Genealogy is something we never stop doing even if it is only going over details in our head while rocking, feeding or holding a baby in the middle of the night. Find a good place to sit with Leo and in the same area put an art easel (use the cheap ones children use) and put items you need to contemplate, then get yourself a recorder. Record ideas or thoughts about genealogy or day-to-day items. Replay when you have time. Enjoy the time he is awake. My baby turns 45 this year and I still can remember those times. —Patricia Nemeth

My children grew up underneath the tables at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, back in the day (1985-1990). They made a little fort and basically hung out and behaved because they knew Chuck E. Cheese was the last stop before heading home.
—Kay McCullough

Concentrate on the descendant right now—the ancestors will wait. Get a recorder to remember what Leo does and says as he grows. He'll appreciate knowing about that when he has descendants, as much as he'll appreciate knowing about his ancestors. And you'll have plenty of time between the ages of 50 and 90 to research genealogy—believe me, I know.
—Gene Kuechmann

When my daughter was that young, I decided to focus more on making history and memories, instead of looking at records. Those will wait for me, although I did do some research from time to time when I got a moment. This is the time to take pictures—maybe a scrapbook or slideshow—to record your ongoing family history.

Oh, and while all those relatives are over to ogle the baby, don't forget to ask them about the family history. Somehow people are more inclined to talk when they know it is for someone who definitely doesn't know the story.

When we finished a cemetery trip or a library trip (yeah, I did make her sit through those—she helped by drawing pictures I would publish in the family book), there was always a trip to Taco Bell as a reward.
—Shasta

It seems like just yesterday when I was trying to research and raise little ones. Naptime and late at night were the best times to do genealogy (and an occasional Saturday when Dad was home). But there were long stretches of time when I didn't do any, simply because we were too busy making our own family history. Or I was too tired!
—Michelle Goodrum

I squeeze in small moments of searches whenever I can—while making dinner, etc. I stay super-organized so I know exactly where I left off.
—Elyse Doerflinger (who blogs at Elyse’s Genealogy Blog)